Improvement in fibrous mineral packings for journals, bearings



ifiitiitii $tiit5 CHASE .A. STEVENS, or NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR T0 ABIJAHRIOHARD- SON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.-

Letters Patent No. 112,6 48, dated March 14, 1 871.

IMPROVEMENT |N rlsno'us MINERAL PACKINGS FOR JOURNALS, BEARINGS, a

who Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making past of the sauna.

To all whom may concern i Be it known that Lflizmsn A. Smuvnns, of the city "and State of New Yorlghave invented a new and improved-Material for Packing for Journals and other Parts of Machinery; and Ido hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof,

use thesame. i. v

This invention relates to packingmade from pure which will enable those skilled in theart to make and asbestos, amianthns, or other. fibrous mineral.

In carrying out my invention I subject crude asbestus or other fibrous mineral to treatment with suitable acids, or other means, so as to disintegrate and bring it to a fibrous condition, after which I subject it to the operationrof picking by-suitable macl1inery,'similar to the operation of picking cotton and wool, whereby I bring it to a fine, flexible, and. loose or flocky condition. ,In this state the asbestos or other fibrous minerals is suitable for packing journal-boxes of car-axles and bearings of heavyshafting, and wherever loose I packing can beused. .Sucb fibrous minerals possess in themselves lubricating qualities which enable me .to dispense, in some cases, with the use of oil with my packing, but it can be used with or without the addition of oil or other lnbricators.

When additional lubricating is preferred-I saturate the asbestus and other fibrous minerals with suitable oils, such, for example, as lard-oil, but use much less in quantity than is common with cotton-waste packi g. Said packing is a poor conductor of heat and electricityfand does not promote the generation of heat like cotton or other vegetable packing in the presence of oil. .It is at the same time a better 'absorbentof oils than either vegetable or animal fibers, and the oil is more thoroughly diffused and disseminated through the mass than is the case with such other packings, and it retains the oil in absorption without much evaporation or volatilization. It is, moreover, elastic and durable to a high degree, and is notcombustible at a temperature below about two thousand degrees.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters .Patent, is-' A packing for journals and other parts of machinery, prepared from asbestos, amianthus, or other fibrous mineral, substantially as and for the purposes set forth, so as to free said fibrous minerals from all earthy mat- 

